British Club and Coral Fungi: a Textbook on the British and Irish Clavarioid and Ramarioid Fungi (Basidiomycota)
Clavaria zollingeri, an attractive coral fungus that is widespread but scarce in Britain, occurring in old and unimproved grassland
Work is underway to research and publish an authoritative, illustrated reference book on the clavarioid and ramarioid fungi of the British Isles. No current or previous text exists for this group of fungi in Britain, or indeed in Europe.
Provisionally titled 'British Club and Coral Fungi', the book will be the next in a series of Kew publications on British and Irish fungi, which currently include 1) British Truffles, 2) British Puffballs, Earthstars and Stinkhorns, and 3) British Chanterelles and Tooth Fungi. The new book will provide keys, with descriptions and illustrations, to all British species of Clavaria, Clavulina, Clavulinopsis, Ramaria, Ramariopsis, Typhula, and many minor genera, covering an estimated 100 species.
The target audience includes conservationists (for whom the clavarioid fungi are important indicator species for assessing the value of old pastures and grasslands), researchers into ectomycorrhizas (found in the genera Clavulina and Ramaria), taxonomists, regional and county recorders, students and interested amateur mycologists. It is hoped to complete and publish the book within the next three years.